In a new report the UN’s World Food Programme warned that global hunger is rising at an alarming rate , with 343m people estimated to be acutely food insecure across 74 countries.
This is nearly 200m more than pre-pandemic levels, and could rise further as food inflation remains high in many places.
“Global humanitarian needs are skyrocketing, fuelled by the growing number of devastating conflicts, more frequent climate disasters, and extensive economic turmoil,” said WFP director Cindy McCain on Friday (22 November). “But funding provided by the international community is failing to keep pace."
The WFP needs $16.9bn (€16.2bn) to alleviate severe hunger for 123 million people next year. Without this funding, millions could face starvation.
Among those most affected, 1.9m people are facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity. Millions more in Gaza, Haiti, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Nigeria, and other countries live under the constant threat of starvation.
Armed conflict is the primary driver in 14 out of 16 hunger zones, with 65 percent of those acutely food insecure residing in fragile or conflict-affected areas such as Sudan, the Sahel, Yemen and the Horn of Africa.
Economic headwinds from the last few years are worsening the situation, with one-in-four developing economies still poorer than before the pandemic. Food prices have doubled in 26 countries over the last four years.
Climate change and extreme weather events, particularly those worsened by El Niño, are another critical factor. In southern Africa, maize production has halved in Zimbabwe and Zambia due to drought, while sub-Saharan Africa faces an acute hunger crisis affecting over 170 million people.
The region accounts for half of WFP’s projected funding needs for 2025. Latin America and the Caribbean are also severely affected, with over 40 million people food insecure and 14.2 million identified as needing immediate assistance.
“We urgently need financial and diplomatic support from the international community to reverse the rising tide of global needs and help vulnerable communities," said McCain.
The report also describes the worsening situation in Gaza where 91 percent of the population are now “acutely food-insecure” – of whom 16 percent are in catastrophic conditions.
Before the war farms covered 40 percent of Gaza. But UN satellite analysts last week found that 90 percent of cattle have died and 70 percent of Gaza’s croplands have been destroyed since the beginning of the war.
“Heavy vehicle tracks, razing, shelling and other conflict-related pressures have damaged large areas of farmland, infrastructure, wells and other productive infrastructure,” Rein Paulsen, director at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said last week in a briefing to the UN Security Council.
He concluded that local food production in Gaza is “decimated.”
Even while global hunger is worsening, countries also face the mammoth task of reducing agricultural emissions and adapting farm lands to climate change.
At the global climate summit in Bazu, Azerbaijan, this week, country delegates and the FAO launched a new initiative to “advance climate actions through sustainable agriculture.”
But making the programme work will need much more financial backing.
According to a November UN study, investments of $1.1 trillion [€1.06 trillion] are needed annually until 2030 to green the world’s food systems – a 40-times increase over current numbers.
Wester is a journalist from the Netherlands with a focus on the green economy. He joined EUobserver in September 2021. Previously he was editor-in-chief of Vice, Motherboard, a science-based website, and climate economy journalist for The Correspondent.
Wester is a journalist from the Netherlands with a focus on the green economy. He joined EUobserver in September 2021. Previously he was editor-in-chief of Vice, Motherboard, a science-based website, and climate economy journalist for The Correspondent.